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January 2016 Moms
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What does early labor/contractions feel like?

mrsncmrsnc member
in January 2016 Moms
Alright all my mamas who have gone through it out there, what signs did you have that labor was starting? I feel like I'm not going to realize when it happens. I know everyone says, "Oh, you'll know!" but I still worry I won't know until it hits me hard. I've read other posts and done my research about some of the signs (mucus plug, diarrhea, consistent contractions). I've haven't felt any BH thus far. I was feeling some pelvic pressure last night and this morning, but nothing I could track, and I have no other signs so I don't think it's worth a call to my doctor. I wanted to know if anyone else kind of missed their early labor?
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Re: What does early labor/contractions feel like?

  • jeanbug12jeanbug12 member
    edited January 2016
    Early labor can last for days or weeks...or you could not notice it at all. With my last pregnancy I lost my mucus plug on a Monday but had no other signs of labor until I woke up at 3 AM on that Friday with strong contractions and was holding my DD 7 hours later, i was 42 weeks pregnant when i had her. This time, at 40+4 I have been having contractions for days now, and they are getting stronger and more frequent, but still not very painful. But it is true, you will know, no need to call your Dr just yet.

    There is a post about labor signs you might find helpful.
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  • PedsIsHardcorePedsIsHardcore member
    No one can really tell you. It's different for everyone because everyone has a different pain tolerance and also health plays a big role in it too. What I feel vs what someone with fibromyalgia feel are 2 totally different things.
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  • MssyMmmyMssyMmmy member
    For me it felt like a lot of pressure in my vagina and lower abdomen that slowly increased and then faded. Once it started happening a lot I started timing them and realized how frequently it was happening. I laboured at home for 11 hours before going to the hospital. Once there my water broke. After that the contractions felt the same but happened more often. Eventually I could feel this huge round weight in my pelvis as my babies head dropped.
    Everybody describes contractions differently. I spent a lot of time googling it and would have really liked a detailed description. I wasn't fully convinced I was having contractions until we started tracking them. I had no signs of pre labor other than the losing the start of my mucus plug. It wasn't very much so I wasn't convinced that's what it was. I continued to lose the plug when I was in active labor.
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  • ambercakes92ambercakes92 member
    For me, I was feeling period-like cramps for most of the day. I also had a bloody show three times that day when I used the bathroom. I wasn't totally convinced I was going into labor because my cramping didn't feel like what they say contractions should feel like. When my water broke in the early morning hours the next day, I knew that I had in fact been experiencing contractions and early labor signs!
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
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  • danasphillipsdanasphillips member
    With DS it felt like a combination of BH contractions and period cramps. But they are right- eventually the pain will be bad enough that you will know:)
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  • mrsncmrsnc member
    This description is just what I needed to hear! I think I'm going through the same kind of pressure, but it's too difficult to identify a start and end point right now, so I can't really track them just yet. I'm going to pay extra close attention because I'd love if this was early labor and I'd get to meet her soon!
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  • ChrissyD1203ChrissyD1203 member
    I didn't have any BH before, no mucus plug, no dilation. From weeks 36 on, I had cramps like my period was coming, but the night I went into labor for the first time the cramps were timeable (as opposed to just feeling crampy for an extended period of time). Within an hour of the timeable cramps my water broke.
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  • kqualls5kqualls5 member
    I found this article online where 18 women describe what contractions felt like for them. And seriously no two said the same thing. Some said really bad period cramps. One said she was pissed because she was expecting bad period cramps but never felt anything resembling cramps. One said it felt like the pain you get when you eat too much and have really bad gas.

    I was really hoping for a cut & dry answer, because I too am worried I won't know when it's happening since I am SO not in tune with my body. But sadly apparently we just have to try and trust our instincts!
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  • klbhklbh member
    There's a nice, long sticky in the December 2015 board about what contractions felt like for different women. I enjoyed reading it but felt like the main takeaway was that experiences of labor vary hugely, so it's hard to predict what mine will be like. And early labor might be hard to identify, but active labor won't!
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  • EC2016EC2016 member
    I was wondering this too. So many times I've thought I was in early labor but then nothing. I guess it's still a mystery.
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  • Sahara26Sahara26 member
    edited January 2016
    I had the bloody show all day on a Friday. Then my water broke in the middle of the night, Friday night. Contractions were super mild at first. I wrote down the time I started to feel them to see if they were timeable. I wasn't quite sure that they were even contractions until I started timing them. They increased in strength rather quickly, but still just felt like strong, intense period cramps. The pain started moving into my back, in addition to the pain in my belly, when we were at the hospital and I was about 6cm dilated.

    I ended up with a c-section because baby turned breech. Otherwise, the pain wasn't anything I couldn't tolerate and my labor progressed quickly for a FTM. Deep breathing and trying my best to relax my muscles definitely helped to relieve the pain I was feeling.

    ETA: Once the contractions were about 7 minutes apart, even if my water hadn't broken first, there was no denying that it was labor.
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  • LIly436LIly436 member
    I was induced with the first one and contractions felt like burning pain in the lower back. Expect something similar this time, but not sure
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  • EC2016EC2016 member
    I just watched the 40 week video on the app. She describes what a contraction should feel like as opposed to false labor. I found it interesting so well see how accurate it is.
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  • lolobellrnlolobellrn member
    ambercakes92 said:

    For me, I was feeling period-like cramps for most of the day. I also had a bloody show three times that day when I used the bathroom. I wasn't totally convinced I was going into labor because my cramping didn't feel like what they say contractions should feel like. When my water broke in the early morning hours the next day, I knew that I had in fact been experiencing contractions and early labor signs!

    I'm 40+4 and I've been experiencing the same period like cramps all afternoon since my dr did a membrane sweep. I had a large amount of brownish bloody mucus 2x and some light spotting which is now pretty much back to normal, it doesn't feel that uncomfortable now, so I will wait it out and see how the night progresses. It's pretty hard to time the cramps/tightness I'm experiencing, some times it last 20-30 secs and other times it's just like a sharp cramp that goes away quickly! I'm hoping this means it will be show time by tomorrow! I can't wait to see my baby girl!
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